Gujarat fund networks aided fraudsters running call centres, say US authorities

The big reveal by US authorities on Thursday that American citizens had lost $300 million to India based fraudsters running call centres does not represent the first Ahmedabad link to con call centres. In February 2012, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) had approached Indian authorities to report that a call centre - Zeus Inc Private Ltd, located in Wall Street building on Gujarat College Road - had made 8.5 million threat calls over eight months and had siphoned off $5 million, demanding between $300 and $2,000 per call.

The callers warned targets of dire consequences if the victims did not pay back their "loans". Nirav Raichur and Parag Chaudhari were two names that had surfaced in the case. The alarm bells - sounded clearly by the US - were curiously ignored by the state and city authorities as no police case was filed.City cops have carried out seven searches over the past two years and nabbed nearly 50 persons for illegal call centre operations. Experts, however, said this was not even the proverbial tip of the iceberg as more than 1,000 call centres are running in the city and its periphery.

"The call centre phenomenon, which attracted lakhs of young people, also showed many youngsters an easy way to make a quick buck," an industry insider said."Anybody could run a call centre by renting out small space, a few pieces of furniture and computers. Some old hands learnt the tricks of deception to fool gullible citizens abroad by showing them fear of their own government." Apart from the salary, bonuses for every dollar earned lured many youths to call centres. Experts say established networks for fund transfers in Ahmedabad, originally meant for the benefit of the large Gujarati diaspora settled in the US and Canada, come handy for scammers.



"While there are many centres doing this all across India, processing work - that is routing funds from a victim to a call centre operator - is mainly done in Gujarat, particularly in Ahmedabad," a top cop said. "The reason is that there are established processing networks here which have agents ready in India and the US." He said the agents also had better access to unscrupulous establishments from where they procured blank gift cards in bulk to send Moneygram using false identification.

Despite several `searches', call centres in Ahmedabad thrived as the crime was not taking place in India. In the absence of complaints, it was easy for cops to turn a blind eye to operations in areas such as Navrangpura, Ellisbridge, Satellite, or Prahladnagar. Those who were caught were let go with just a rap on the knuckles. Sources say the multi-crore business now has investors ranging allegedly from police officials to politicians.

Would the case in the US change the situation?

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"Many are entrenched in the business and it is difficult for them to pull out. Kingpins like Sagar Thakkar employ close to 750 people," an insider said.

"The scam might change form. There is no dearth of unemployed youth willing to do night shifts."

Many Indians, Gujaratis among scam victims

Citizens in the US have reported receiving fraudulent and threatening calls since 2012. Accounts of the victims contain a number of persons of Indian origin, including those having roots in Gujarat. The cases include fraud with Mamta S, a resident of San Francisco, cheated of $43,000; San Diego residents Dhruv P and Komal C of $30,000; and Sarika C, a resident of Santa Clara, of $16,000.

In all these cases, the callers had identified themselves as US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and state police employees and had threatened the targets of arrest and deportation for alleged tax and immigration violations. In 2014, Suresh M, a resident of Hayward, California, was duped of $160,000 after he was charged with violations by `IRS agents.' Suresh purchased 276 MoneyPaks and transmitted the PINs to the callers.